810

She breaks her thyrsus, bares her bloody breast,
And flies to give his wand'ring spirit rest.
Through Styx and ev'ry lake above he flies,
And where th' impervious cliffs of Lethe rise;
His milder sire, Echion there he found,
To share his griefs, and ease each rankling wound.
A mournful aspect wretched Lycus-wears,
And Athamas his slaughter'd infant bears.
Actæon still the form impos'd retains,

And leads the chase along the dreary plains,

Fleet are his limbs, o'er hill and dale he bounds, And with his horns repels the rushing hounds. 820 Next Niobe majestic stalks along,

And shines conspicuous in the female throng.
With raptures she recounts her former woes,
Surveys th' exhausted malice of her foes;
And, pleas'd to find herself secure in death,
In loud reproaches wastes her impious breath."
While thus the priestess spoke, the list'ning sage
Uprears his hoary head, depress'd with age;
The fillets tremble on his awful brow,

And his flush'd cheeks with youthful ardour glow:
No more the staff his bending frame sustains, 831
Tall and erect, he stalks along the plains,
And thus replies: "O! waste thy breath no more,
The pitying gods my ravish'd sight restore:
The mists and films that lately did involve
These clouded orbs, in subtle air dissolve.
I feel the gradual entrance of the light,
And ev'ry object shines reveal'd to sight.
With eyes dejected, and dissolv'd in tears,
Each phantom of Argolic race appears.
Stern Abas here, there guilty Prætus stands,
And mild Phoroneus lifts his aged hands.
See Pelops, maim'd to glut the tyrant's lust,
And stern Oenomaus, begrim'd with dust.
In the pale aspect of each patriot shade
I see the fall of Argive pride pourtray'd.

840

815. A mournful aspect] Lycus, according to the commentator Lactantius, gave his daughter Megara in marriage to Hercules. This so incensed Juno, that she made him a lunatic; in one of his fits he slew two of his sons, for which reason he is represented here dejected and sorrowful.

Others say he was a Theban exile, and made an attempt to ravage Megara in the absence of her husband, who returned time enough to prevent and punish his designs with death.

834. The pitying gods] This fiction of the poet is founded upon an important truth of religion, not unknown to the Pagans, that God only can open the eyes of men, and enable them to see what they cannot discover by their own capacity. Thus Homer introduces Minerva, as enlightening the eyes of Diomede.

Α' χλὺν δ' αὖ τοι ἀπ ̓ ὀφθαλμῶ ὅλον, ἢ πρὶν ἐπῆεν,
Οφρ' εὖ γινώσκης ἠμὲν Θεον, ἠδὲ καὶ άνδρα.

Iliad, lib. 5. v. 127. And Milton makes Michael open Adam's eyes to see the revolutions of the world, and fortunes of his posterity.

He purg'd with euphrasy and rue The visual nerve, for he had much to see, And from the well of life three drops distill'd. Paradise Lost, book 11. 845. In the pale aspect] This beautiful circumstance is taken from Lucan; where the shade

But who are they, whose wounds and gleaming arms
Bespeak them not disus'd to war's alarms?
An hostile frown and threat'ning looks they wear,
And to our view their wounded bosoms bare. 850
Alas! too well I know the social band
For those who fell beneath th' Ætolian's hand.
Chromis and Phegeus, skill'd to whirl the lance,
And Chthonius with impetuous strides advance:
Brave Mæon next his well-known face displays,
Mæon, distinguish'd with Phoebean bays.
From whence this rage? You tread no hostile ground,
The gods, not Tydeus, gave the fatal wound:
Thus did the cruel destinies ordain,

And human strength and art oppos'd in vain. 800
Mars shall again invade the Theban shore,
And, in the form of Tydeus, rage in gore."
He spoke and, pointing to the blood above,
And sacred wreaths, the phantoms backward drove.
But pensive Laius, on the dreary steep

870

Of hoarse Cocytus, eyes the subject deep;
Whom late from Earth Cyllenius had convey'd,
And render'd back to rest his troubled shade.
Unmov'd by sacrifice, or hallow'd blood,
He loiter'd on the margin of the flood,
And, as askance his grandson he beheld,
High in his breast his heart indignant swell'd.
Tiresias first the mutual silence broke,
And, turning, thus th' impassive shade bespoke.
"Illustrious prince! since whose unworthy fate,
Incessant woes have vex'd the Theban state,
Here let thy rage its utmost barrier find,
Nor pass the bounds by fate and Heav'n assign'd.
Enough of vengeance to thy wrongs is paid,
And fifty bleed, to glut a single shade.
Whom dost thou fly? Thy son, depriv'd of sight,
And buried to the world, abhors the light:
What tho' he still retains his vital breath?
His pains exceed the worst degree of death.
But say, by what inducement led, you shun
A congress with his unoffending son ?
whieh Erictho raises to satisfy Pompey's son
about the fortune of the war, says,

880

Tristis fælicibus umbris Vultus erat, vide Decios, natumque patremque Lustrales bellis animas, flentemque Camillum Et Curios, Syllam de te, Fortuna, querentem. b. 6. 864. And sacred wreaths] The verses in the original are,

Frondibus instantes abigit, monstratque cruorem. Dixit, vittâque ligatis Lactantius, with the usual warmth of a critic, contends, that vittaque ligatis frondibus should be referred to the fifty shades; and I wish he had given us something more to support his assertion, than his own bare word and critical authority; for I must own, I cannot easily conceive, why those fifty soldiers should wear chaplets appropriated to priests and augurs only. Besides, reason, and the context itself, seem to persuade a quite different construction, which is this, that he drove them away by showing them the blood and his wreaths, which were the ensigns of his office and authority. I would not be guilty of a positive ipse dixi, but shall refer it to the reader's own judg ment to determine between us.

This description of necromancy in general, has a great resemblance with that in the 3d act of Seneca's Oedipus.

If pleas'd, that we may shun the threat'ned blow,
If angry, to afford the cause of woe.
So shall the grateful vessel waft thee o'er
To the sweet banks of yon forbidden shore;
For thee the Stygian monarch shall transgress
The laws of fate, and yield the wish'd access."
The shade, relenting, steeps his paler cheeks
In the red stream, and thus the seer bespeaks.
"Ah! why am I selected to disclose
The various ills the destinies impose?
Sufficient is it to have known the past,

900

And prov'd, that death alone can bring the last.
But would ye learn what woes on Thebes impend,
Let him, the author, at your rites attend,
Who durst his father's blood with pleasure shed,
Ascend his mother's interdicted bed,
Thro' violated nature force his way,

And stain the sacred womb where once he lay.
E'en now the pow'rs of Hell he strives to rouse
To wrath, and wearies Heav'n with impious vows.
But, since from me alone you seek to know 911
Each mournful circumstance of future woe,
All I can learn, and all allow'd by fate,
With truth and accuracy I relate.

War, horrid war, the jarring world shall waste,
And thousands to their own destruction haste;
Each Grecian state her youthful warriors yields,
And ne'er before such armies hid the fields.
All these shall meet a sure, tho' various death:
Some in the glorious field shall yield their breath,
And others, blasted with etherial fire,
921
Or by the gaping earth o'erwhelm'd, expire.
Fair Thebes shall yet be mistress of the plain,
Nor Polynices win the promis'd reign.
But the stern sire shall triumph in success,
And Heav'n and Hell conspire to give redress."
Thus darkly he the prophecy exprest,
Part he disclos'd, the greater part supprest.
Meanwhile the scatter'd Argives bend their course
To Nemea, conscious of Herculean force;
They long to burn, to ravage, and destroy,
And war and slaughter are their only joy.
What pow'r, O Phœbus, did avert their rage,
(For scarce the fame has reach'd our distant age:)

930

891. If pleas'd] I believe this passage requires a little more illustration than was allowable in the version; the sense is, that by Laius's relating the ill fortune of the war, (for we must carry the supposition along with us of its being so) he would gain his ends, however he was disposed towards his country, viz. that if he was a foe to it, he would have the satisfaction of hearing them mourn, but if a friend, of warning them against the impending danger.

Relate, what god obscur'd the doubtful way,
And clog'd their promis'd conquest with delay?
The god of wine, returning from the war,
From conquer'd Hæmus drove his rattling car;
The Scythian here, what time the dog-star reigns,
Nocturnal orgies to the god ordains.
940
The hills array'd in youthful green appear,
And scarce sustain the produce of the year.
To dearer Thebes the god pursues his way,
And plies the lash, impatient of delay:
Impetuous lynxes bear him o'er the plains
With tigers pair'd, and lick the purple reins;
Behind, a troop of bleeding wolves appear,
With wounded bears, and close the savage rear.
Stern discord, ever ready to engage,

With stagg'ring impotence, and headstrong rage,
Attend his course, and crowd around his car, 951
Friends of the god, and partners in the war.
But, when he saw the clouds of dust arise,
Their burnish'd armour gleaming in the skies,
And knew, that Thebes as yet was unprepar'd
To dare the combat, or their rage retard;
Astonish'd at the view, he cross'd the road,
(Tho' gorg'd and reeling with the nauseous load)
Commands the drums and shriller fifes to cease,
And thus begins, when all was hush'd in peace.
"Behold! Bellona threats the Theban tow'rs, 961
The queen of ether arms her Argive pow'rs,
And from the long records of distant age
Derives incitements to renew her rage.
Could not th' offender's death, nor length of time
Absolve the guilt and horrours of the crime,
When fire from Heav'n was summon'd to her doom,
And scorch'd the produce of her fertile womb?
That her exhausted anger she renews,
And the sad reliques of the name pursues.
Yet will I interpose a short delay;
Hither, ye friends of Bacchus, bend your way."
He spoke his tigers, fleeter than the wind,
Sprung forth, and bore him to the spot design'd.
The gaudy Sun had gain'd the middle height
Of Heav'n, and flash'd intolerable light;
Each grove admits th' exhilarating ray,
And bares its dark recesses to the day;
Thick vapours issue from the steaming fields,
As the cleft earth a gradual passage yields; 980
this repetition want its uses; for it not only raises
the dignity and importance of the poem in the eye
of the reader, but serves likewise to awake and
revive his attention to the subject and matter in
hand, as it would otherwise flag and fall off in the
course of a long narration. Virgil has made use
of this address in his 9th book:

970

Quis deus, O Musæ, tam sæva incendia Teucris Avertit? &c. v. 77.

934. For scarce the fame] This is copied from Virgil, where, in the invocation previous to his catalogue, he says,

893. So shall the grateful vessel] See note on the 414th verse of the 1st book.

933. What pow'r, O Phoebus] It was customary among the epic writers to renew their invocation to the Muses or Phoebus before the recital of any remarkable action or exploit; nor does

And again by Tasso:

Di tant' opra à noi si lunge Debil' aura di fama pena giunga. Gier. c. 3. st. 19

965. Could not th' offender's death] This was his mother Semele, concerning whoni, see note on book the 1st, verse 356.

990

1000

When, rising from amidst a circling crowd
Of Naiads, thus the god exclaims aloud.
"Yenymphs, that o'er each stream exert your reign,
Partake our honours, and adorn our train,
Assist me to repel our common foes,
Nor grudge the toil, unwilling I impose.
Withhold your sluices, dry the fertile source,
And clog with dust eachstream's impetuouscourse:
But Nemea's most, from whence the guided foe
Pursues his wasteful path to Thebes below.
Let ev'ry torrent quit its craggy steep,
And disembogue its waters in the deep.
Propitious Phoebus seconds our designs,
As on the margin of the deep he shines;
The signs indulgent to our toils arise,
And the fierce dog-star fires th' autumnal skies.
Hence to your liquid caves awhile retire:
Your presence soon we shall again require,
When your past toils shall claim an equal share
In all the rites our votaries prepare.
No more the fauns and satyrs shall escape
Unpunish'd, or effect th' injurions rape."
He spoke: and straight a gath'ring filth o'erspreads,
And binds the streams suspended on their heads
No more the spring its wonted influence yields;
Increasing thirst inflames the wither'd fields.
Huge heaps of moisten'd dust condens'd to mud
Charge the discolour'd channel of the flood.
Pale Ceres sickens on the barren soil,
And wither'd ears elude the peasant's toil.
The flocks on the fallacious margin stood,
And mourn th' unwonted absence of the flood.
Thus, when the Nile suspends his rapid course,
And seeks with refluent waves his distant source:
In spacious caves recruits his liquid pow'rs,
And at each mouth imbibes the wintry show'rs:
The riven earth with issuing vapours smokes,
And Egypt long in vain his aid invokes ;
Till, at the world's united pray'r, again
He spreads a golden harvest on the plain.
Lyceus, and the guilty Lerna fly

1010

1020

To distant realms, and leave their channels dry.
No more Charad: us, with tumultuous sound,
Whirls his white foam, and floating rocks around.
With softer murmurs rough Asterion flows;
And Easine no more confinement knows,

Who late, in sounds that match'd the noisy deep,
Or thunder, broke the shepherd's envied sleep.
Langia only, as the god ordain'd,

1031

Preserves his stream with dust and filth unstain'd;
Langia, yet unknown to vulgar fame,
Nor glorying in the slaughter'd infant's name.
Inviolate the grove and spring remain,
And all their wonted properties retain.

983. Ye nymphs] From the beginning of this speech to the conclusion of the book, we shall find the poet exerting himself in a very eminent degree. The descriptions are particularly picturesque and lively, the sentiments noble and elevated, the speeches nervous and spirited, the diction daring and figurative, and the verses easy and harmonious.

1013. Thus, when the Nile] This comparison is drawn agreeably to truth and the general observation of travellers. The best comment upon it is in the 10th book of Lucan's Pharsalia, where the poet introduces a dialogue between Cæsar and Achoreus concerning the source and origin of the Nile.

1050

But O! what honours the fair nymph await, When Greece, to solemnize her infant's fate, Shall institute triennial feasts and games, And ages hence record their sacred names! No more the plates their swelling chests confine, No more the bucklers on their shoulders shine: The fever spreads thro' each interior part, 1041 And from the mouth invades the beating heart, With raging pain their with'ring entrails burn, And fiery breathings from their lungs return. The shrinking veins contract their purple flood, Nor feel the circling motion of the blood. The gaping earth exhales unwholesome steams, Resolv'd to dust by Sol's increasing beams. The thirsty steed, impatient of the reins, In wild disorder scours along the plains. On the dry bit no floods of moisture flow, In whiteness equal to the Scythian snow; But from his mouth depends the lolling tongue, Or to the parched roof adhesive hung. Some, by the king commission'd, Earth explore, And search the sources of her liquid store. But all in vain: they view with wond'ring eyes, Each channel dry'd, exhausted of supplies. (Th' essential property of moisture gone) The spring retains an empty name alone. Nor was there greater hope of falling rain, Than if they rang'd the desert Lybian plain, Where Iris ever shuns the deep serene, Nor pregnant clouds o'ershade th' unvaried scene. At length a ray of hope dispels their grief, And cheers them with the prospect of relief. Hypsipile, as through the woods they stray'd, A beauteous mourner, haply they survey'd.

1060

1035. O! what honours] A gentleman, who has made some figure in the literary world, in perusing these lines with me, blamed our author for giving us the outlines of this piece, which he intended to fill up in the 6th book, as thinking it superfluous and disgusting. Perhaps, however, this may be so far from cloying the reader's appetite, that it may raise it, and make him desirous of seeing the picture drawn in its full length.

mind a beautiful description in Lucan, of this 1049. The thirsty steed] These lines call to my noble anima! in the same sickly state.

Non sonipes motus clangore tubarum Saxa quatit pulsu, rigidos vexantia frænos Ora terens, spargitque jubas, et surrigit aures, Incertoque pedum pugnat non stare tumultu. Fessa jacet cervix. Fumant sudoribus armi: Oraque projectâ squallent arentia linguâ. Pectora rauca gemunt, quæ creber anhelitus urget, Et defecta gravis longe trahit ilia pulsus: Siccaque sanguineis durescit spuma lupatis.

Phars, book 4. 742.